The Parting Glass
by YouMustUseTheForce
Summary: When a new young woman moves into Smallville to write a book on the "hidden histories" of the small town she inadvertently lands on the radar of one Lex Luthor. Is she as much of a threat to the Luthor's as Lionel seems to think? What secrets about her past might change everything?
1. Episode 1 - Rebirth

**A/N** : **Hey everyone! Just wanted to say obviously I do not own Smallville or any of the DC Comic properties. As for a little background, this fanfiction takes place just after season one after the tornadoes touched down in Smallville. For the most part, I will be sticking with the timeline of the show with changes along the way and some new "Episodes."**

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 **Episode One - Rebirth**

A young woman scrutinized herself in the reflection of a large floor to ceiling mirror...the fanciest mirror she had ever seen. Her white blouse was on loan from her roommate, and the black skirt was bought at a second-hand store. 'Not bad…' She thought pulling her long crimson curls over her shoulder, 'Not great...but not bad.' She was three days away from the end of her university career and unlike her fellow students who were partying away their last days before freedom, Éile Ahearn was standing outside the office of the most powerful man in Gotham. She leaned in, looking at the pale round face staring back at her. Everyone said she had inherited her mother's face and hair. But Éile knew from the pictures of her father that she was short just like him and had his large light green eyes.

She checked her watch, after this meeting she had an interview at Big Belly Burger. Not exactly where she planned on working after she graduated but if she didn't have a job she would lose her visa. 'I'd gladly serve burgers than not have a choice of where to go. Or get shipped back to...'

"Um...Miss Ahearn? Eel...Elie Ahearn?" A well put together woman appeared around the corner with a clipboard making Éile jump, nearly smashing into the huge mirror on the wall. The secretary studied the first name again, clearly struggling with the unusual first name of the only other person in the empty waiting room.

"AYL-yeh…" Éile turned giving the secretary an apologetic smile and smoothing out her skirt. "I'm Éile Ahearn. The first names a bit tough."

"Oh!" The women smiled brightly, "You're from Ireland! Well, let me do the honor of welcoming you to Gotham...Éile?" She stepped forward and shook Éile's hand. Éile didn't have the heart to tell her she had been here for the last two years. But she did get the name right this time. Éile opened her mouth but was quickly cut off, "I've always wanted to go to Ireland!" The secretary motioned for her to follow her down a long hallway, "I'm like...25% Irish on my mother's side! Is it as beautiful as all of the pictures make it look? I bet it is…" Éile just nodded, unable to get a word in edgewise. "The accents are so beautiful. Maybe that should be my next vacation…" She stopped in front of a door, "Well here we are!" She knocked on the door, "Mr. Wayne, your 3 o'clock is here."

"Please send her in!" A man's voice chimed in from the other side of the door.

"It was very nice to meet you, and I hope you get to Ireland!" Éile smiled and quickly pushed past the secretary into the wood-paneled office. A man who couldn't have been far into his 20's stood at a set of large paneled windows that looked out into Gotham. Without question, this was the best-dressed man Éile had ever seen. His hair was slicked back, and his suit was custom made.

He turned and with a warm smile extended his hand, "Éile Ahearn, It's a pleasure to meet you again!" Éile closed the distance between them and shook his hand. Years ago she met a much younger Bruce Wayne when he toured her primary school...the day when her whole life would change. "I had hoped we would have this meeting sooner, but my schedule has been hectic lately." He motioned her to the chair in front of his desk. As Éile took a seat, he opened a folder on his desk, "I have been keeping up with your accomplishments though. I'm happy to see that the Martha Wayne Memorial Scholarship found it's way to the right person." He smiled flipping through the folder, "Top marks all through school, applied and accepted to one of the top universities in Ireland at the age of 16. Graduating Gotham University at age 19 in..." He looked at his watch, "3 days!"

"I wouldn't have been able to do any of that if it wasn't for your scholarship Mr. Wayne," Éile interjected. The Martha Wayne Memorial Scholarship for Orphaned, Adopted and Fostered Youth had allowed her to leave Clare Island off the coast of Ireland for a private school on the mainland.

Mr. Wayne's eyes fell, "When my parents were murdered I was left with a successful company, plenty of money, and people whose sole job it was to take care of me. I was fortunate. And it was still tough for me." He looked up at Éile and smiled, "No one should be held back from their true potential because of the loss of a parent. Especially not someone with your propensity for writing." He dropped a packet of paper in front of Éile.

"Is that…" Éile's brow furrowed in confusion as took the neatly stapled stack of paper in front of her, "This is my senior dissertation."

"You're doing it a disservice calling it a dissertation Éile, it's not nearly that boring. 'Hidden History of Smalltown America - Beyond the Salem Witch Trials' was more interesting than the history books I was forced to read in school." Mr. Wayne leaned back in his chair, "I'll get to the point. From what I've heard you don't have have a job lined up after graduation Miss Éile. And your scholarship only extends until you end your time at Gotham University."

"I do have an interview later today…" Éile blushed, suddenly feeling grossly underprepared. Her final semester was so stressful she didn't have time to send out applications for internships or potential jobs.

Mr. Wayne smiled, raising an eyebrow, "At Big Belly Burger?" Éile face turned a darker shade of pink, wondering how he knew that in the first place, "Like I was saying your scholarship is almost done. And I can appreciate how stressful that must be for you. Because of this, I would like to extend to you the Wayne Enterprises Historical Preservation Grant personally."

Éile stared blankly at the smiling young man across the desk, "A grant?" A grant meant money...a job...and a chance to hold onto her visa. In her mind, she saw herself jumping over the desk and hugging the billionaire Bruce Wayne. "A real grant?" She smiled, the realization washing over her.

"There would be a few requirements...I'm sure you understand." Mr. Wayne handed Éile another folder, "I want you to continue your Hidden History of Smalltown America series."

"Continue in Salem?" She shrugged, "I'm not sure what else I could write about but if you're interested I can…"

"Not Salem. As much as I love the witch trials, I'm interested in something...a little different." Bruce stood and walked back to the windows that showcased the large gothic cityscape, "Have you ever heard of a town called Smallville?" Éile shook her head "It's a small farming town in Kansas. On October 7, 1989, the town was hit with a massive storm of meteorites. As you can guess the town became famous for the event and the bits of alien rock you could find in the corn fields. Since then the town has experienced...increased unexplainable and unusual events."

"Well, I wouldn't have pegged you as a fan of the occult Mr. Wayne," Taking the folder, she stood, "I guess you've never gotten the chance to visit the town?" She smiled as he snapped back.

"No, I haven't had the chance yet." He returned her smile, "But I feel like there is much more to Smallville than just the events surrounding the meteor shower."

"I'd love to write another paper on Smallville for you!" Quickly she looked through the folder and saw that arrangements had already been made for travel and lodgings. Plane tickets were tucked neatly behind a 'Welcome to Smallville' pamphlet which featured a cheery looking farmer in front of a cornfield. "You didn't expect me to say no didn't you."

"Not at all! And I think you've misunderstood me Éile. I don't want you to write a paper. I'd like you to write a book." He turned away from the window and stood beside the large antique oak desk. "You write the book on Smallville, and it will be published by Wayne Publishing, free of charge. You'll also collect all of the normal royalties from sales."

"Mr. Wayne this is too much." Éile looked down at the folder again, "You've already given me so much. You got me to where I am today. I don't know if I can accept all of this…" Published? She never expected to be published for anything.

"Of course you can!" He smiled again and pressed a button on his intercom, "Jennifer we're all set here." He released the button, "I only ask that I get to read your new book before anyone else."

Éile felt like she could explode, "Yes!" She said jumping up from the chair a bit more excitedly than she meant to, "I mean…" She shook his hand, "I wouldn't want anyone else to read the first finished copy." The secretary opened the door, and Éile gave Mr. Wayne one more smile before making her way out into the long hallway.

"Please let me know when you've reached Smallville safely!" Mr. Wayne called after the girl as she left him alone in his office.

As the door closed behind Éile, Bruce Wayne turned back to the window. He hoped there would be little fallout if this all went wrong. Luckily for him, she didn't question him further on his interests in Smallville. In his ear, there was a small buzz. Without a second thought, he tapped the small hidden communicator behind his ear, "I'm here Alfred."

"Did everything go as planned?"

"Better, I would say…"

"Do you think it was a good idea sending in the child? She might not even find what you're looking for. You could have gone yourself…"

"I have too much to handle here in Gotham. Besides…" Bruce Wayne opened the last folder on his desk, flipping through photos of Smallville, newspaper clippings, and spreadsheets until he stopped on a grainy photo of two young men, "Some people know my face down there."

Éile leaned against the cold marble of the Wayne Enterprises building, her heart beating loudly in her chest. She pulled out the folder and inspected its contents again, finding it hard to believe this was happening. A chance to write an actual book that actual people would read. According to her tickets her plan left in two days. Farther into the folder was a neatly printed letter detailing a small apartment that had been set up for her upon her arrival. Everything she had been worried about seemed to lift off her shoulders. Her visa would hold out and she would have an apartment.

"Ha!" She excitedly bounced up and down, clutching the folder to her chest. Quickly she pulled out her cell phone, thinking of someone she could tell the good news too. 'My roommate!' The phone rang and quickly went to voicemail. Éile sighed, "No answer…that's fine...I'll be out of her hair soon anyways." As she started down the street, her mind flipping through all the thing she had to do before leaving. "Oh, I know one person who needs to know about this…" She flipped open phone, "Hi, Big Belly Burger? I'm going to have to cancel my interview for today. No, I don't want to reschedule."

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 **A/N: We will be on our way to Smallville in the next Chapter! Thank you for reading and feedback is always appreciated! I have a full-time job and grad school, but I have a lot of cool stories I want to give you guys so I will update as often as I can. Please leave me a review or PM with your thoughts!**


	2. Episode 2 - Convergence

**A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to Chapter 2 and thank you for reading! I forgot to mention in my first chapter that the series of events throughout this story will throw this fic into a slightly AU timeline. Sometimes I will be following the TV shows episodes and other times I will be diverting from some of the established plots.**

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 **Episode 2 - Convergence**

The plane ride to Smallville took almost three hours. Three hours of Éile trying desperately to forget she was hurtling through the air where no human was meant to be. 'If I were meant to fly I would have wings…' she thought as she shook her head and tried to focus on the mess of paper she had stacked in front of her. Before she left Gotham, she found every article she could on the histories and families of Smallville. Although most of what came up was a conspiracy theorist blogs on the meteor shower. 'Silly…' she thought, filing the more ridiculous articles to the back of her notebook. 'Boys surviving being slammed into by car...shapeshifting high schoolers…' Éile laughed a little and looked back at the messy notebook in her hands.

The pages were littered with notes taken hastily as she read through what she could find in the Gotham Library's resource center. At first, it seemed like there was no good starting place beside when the town was founded. But then she found a gem hidden among boring dates and founders names. She would start with the Kawatche Tribe the used to live in the area that was now Smallville. Not a ton was known about them, but Éile uncovered some interesting documents that would be a great drawing point for a book that would make a small town look interesting!

"Hello everyone! This is your pilot speaking if you look out your windows now you will be able to see the great City of Metropolis! We will be landing soon just outside of the city. I hope you all enjoyed your flight today with us…" Éile ignored the rest of the pilot said and packed up her notebooks. The landing was always the worst part.

...

The bus ride to Smallville was pleasant, if not a little slow. Whereas the busses in Gotham looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie, the buses going in and out of Smallville looked like they belonged in a 1940's romance novel. Out the window she watched as the city slowly turned into sizeable open farmland, opening up endless rows of corn.

"What brings you out here miss? Not a lot of young people coming into town." The bus driver said over his shoulder as he adjusted his hat.

She was tempted to use a cliche line that would fit with the antique vehicle. Something like 'A lover did me wrong!' or 'I'm just trying to get away from it all!' Instead, she leaned forward, "I'm writing a book on Smallville. Any good places I should check out?"

"A book on Smallville?" He laughed, "It's going to be a SMALL-book if you ask me." The gentlemen laughed at his own joke, " Not a lot of interesting things to write about. Unless you like farming or politics."

"I can't say I'm fond of ether." She laughed along with the driver.

"It sounds like you're a long way from home. Are you Irish?" He glanced in the mirror back at Éile.

"Guilty as charged," She grabbed her bags and moved to the seat behind him. "Haven't been home in a little while though. My name is Éile."

"Nice to meet you Éile! I'm Dan, Dan Dacey." He offered her a half handshake around the back of his seat, "Well if you're looking for something to do in Smallville I would recommend going to the Talon. That's where most of the people your age hang out. It's a hip little coffee shop on Main Street, you can't miss it!"

...

"I don't know why anyone would want this old place," An older women lead Éile down an alley off Main Street and up what looked like a fire escape to an old wooden door. "Not a ton of room in here but it doesn't look like you have much." Éile's new landlady looked her up and down, stopping at her one suitcase and backpack.

"This isn't permanent…" Éile gave her a half-hearted smile. She was tired of traveling and just wanted to settle in.

"Ah I see. You, young people, aren't taking anything seriously anymore. Just picking up and moving whenever you feel like it. No responsibility." The women opened the door and entered the dark room.

Éile bit her tongue. 'No responsibility? This person has no idea how hard I had worked to get here.' As Éile opened her mouth, ready to respond to the landladies jabs but she was quickly cut off.

"This is it! You have a bathroom through there. Not a lot of room but some good windows. Yup you can see right down on Main Street!" She tossed the keys onto the little kitchen counter, "If you need help with the apartment just give me a call. Welcome to Smallville Ellie!"

As the women left Éile rolled her eyes, "AYL-yeh…not Ellie" She dropped her bags on the floor and tossed herself into the small twin bed. A cloud of dust rose up around her. The rest of the day would be spent pulling together her tiny studio apartment. When she opened the windows plenty of light flooded the small square room. The kitchen was small and blended seamlessly into her "bedroom". There was a small TV on a desk across from her bed and a standing lamp that looked like it had seen better days. No room for a kitchen table, but there was a tea kettle which totally made up for the lack of space.

Unpacking wasn't hard as Éile didn't have a lot. The most important things were placed first: a mug for tea, a mountain of blankets that took up half her suitcase, an out of date laptop, and an old faded picture in a frame. In it stood a shorter man, his arms outstretched above him. He was wrapped up in a large sweater as he stood at the edge of the water.

"So what do you think Da?" She smiled at the young man in the photo, "Never thought I would be doing the struggling artist thing, ha?" Sitting down on the now dust free bed she sunk into her pillows, "I met some of the locals today. It's a small town...just like Clare Island. Not as cold though. I think you might have liked it here."

It wasn't much but it would be home for a time.

...

After a long morning at the library, Éile was ready for a break, or at least a change of scenery. She balanced a stack of notebooks and paper in one arm and a faded tourist map in the other. That coffee shop had to be around here somewhere. She had managed her find her way to the library perfectly fine with the help of an older gentleman. But she had gotten turned around trying to find the Talon. "You can't miss it…" She mumbled to herself as she made her way down the sidewalk, concentrating on the signs above the businesses to her right.

Suddenly Éile rammed headlong into what must have been a wall. She bounced backward, the pile of papers and notebooks falling to the sidewalk. "Whoa…" Blinking in surprise, she rubbed her forehead and focused on what she ran into. A very tall very well dressed bald young man stood in front of her, looking just as surprised as she was. He was an imposing figure and seemed a little out of place in the small town thorofare. The man's stormy blue eyes narrowed as he looked her up and down.

"Do you always barrel into strangers when you're walking down the street?" He said coolly, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I am….so sorry!" Éile waved her hands in front of her trying not to panic under the man's intense gaze, "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going!" She smiled, "I was a little lost you see…" She quickly bent down and started collecting the paper strewn on the sidewalk.

She heard the man sigh as he knelt down next to her and help gather the notebooks back into an organized stack. "I'm sorry as well. I wasn't paying attention as much as I should have." He added flatly, handing Éile a few loose pieces of paper, "You said you were lost? You must be new in town. No one gets lost in Smallville."

"I just moved in yesterday." Éile shifted her pile of papers and held out her hand, "Éile. It's nice to meet you…?"

The man picked up the last of the notebooks and shook her hand, "Lex." Without letting go of her hand he pulled her up to her feet, glancing over the open notebook in his hand. "You're interested in...the Luthors?" He held the open notebook. The page was filled with messy notes on the Luthor lineage, the name 'Luthor' doodled in the margins up and down the page. Lex's eye narrowed, his smile fading as he looked at the page again.

Éile shrugged, "You could say that." She smiled and reached for the notebook, "I'm doing some research...on...Smallville…" The young man looked her over again before returning her notebook to her. "Could you point me in the direction of the Talon? I was told that was the place to go."

He seemed to consider her question for a second before a sickeningly charming smirk spread across his face, "You know what, how about I bring you there myself? It's not often we get someone new in town." His tone had shifted, making her heart leap into her throat.

"No, it's ok! I don't want to take any more of your time. I did nearly bowl you over." She started moving down the sidewalk but before she could say anything more he was leading her down the street with a steady hand on her shoulder. Éile was tempted to hit the man's arm away, but then thought better of it. He was just being polite, and maybe this was normal here.

"I insist…"

...

Soon Lex and the young women were sitting at a table at the Talon. She didn't look like she was hiding anything if Lex was honest. She didn't even seem to know who he was. But with his father in rehabilitation, it wouldn't surprise him a bit if a competitor sent in someone to get information on what the current status of the Luthors was. They had taken a hit along with the rest of the town. It took a minute to get her to accept his invitation for coffee, and even then she paid for herself. Perhaps he was coming off a little strong.

"So…" She looked up from the tea she ordered, looking a little uncomfortable, "Thank you for getting tea with me. I don't know anyone in town yet outside of my landlady."

"Small town hospitality!" Lex leaned back in his seat, "You showed up at an opportune time…" He started, taking a sip of his latte. "A few tornados just came through this area not long ago. Hit a lot of people around here really hard."

"Tornados?!" At this she leaned forward, her eyes wide. "Kansas really lives up to its reputation then!" Éile looked back at her tea. Not the reaction he was expecting. He was hoping bringing up the recent events should shake a reaction out of her. "Did anyone get seriously hurt...or transported to OZ?"

"Nothing Smallville can't recover from." He sighed, "So what type of research brings you to Smallville Éile?" Lex put down his cup and leaned on the table.

"Are you really interested?" She raised an eyebrow as she set her cup aside, "I wouldn't want to bore you too much."

Lex leaned over the table "Oh, I'm interested!"

Éile paused, giving him a scrutinizing look before opening her notebook to a hastily sketched out timeline and leaning over the table as well. To anyone else, it must have looked like they were discussing a secret plot. "Well," Éile's pointed to the beginning of her timeline, "There is the Luthor family. They own LuthorCorp and I think a factory...or a plant...here in Smallville. They are right up there with the Waynes and the Queens. But this isn't the first time they have been involved in the history of Smallville." Her eyes lit up like she was revealing some fantastic secret to him.

He couldn't help but smile, she absolutely had no idea who he was. "Go on…"

"Well…sometime around the early 1800's an immigrant name Dougal MacCann came to America with his daughter Catriona. According to the immigration logs, Dougal wanted to move him and his daughter west to start a new life." At his Éile flipped a few pages in her notebook, "From there, their story picks up from Catriona's diary...or what's left of it. On their way west they met another immigrant from Germany named Adalrik Luthor. Catriona describes him as a pushy strong-willed farmer who insisted on accompanying them on their travels. They went through Kentucky, and that's where things got interesting!" Éile lowered her voice, "Catriona wrote that Adalrik Luthor asked for her hand in marriage numerous times no the trip. But she always said no. One day he got a little too pushy with his advances, and she ran away from their camp, getting lost in the woods and stranded there overnight. She writes about a tall, handsome Native American man who found her in the woods and brought her back to his tribe.I believe they were called the….Kawatche. Catriona never writes his name down in her diary but she calls him the handsome stranger. She hid there for over a month before she was found by her father and Adalrik. During that time she writes about incredible things this trib could do, magical things, and amazing treasures that the man who saved her gave her as gifts." Éile gave him a knowing smile, "She never says it but I'm sure you can guess what happened between her and her Kawatche hero. Halfway through the month she stops referring to him as 'stranger' and starts calling him 'Love.' Anyways...the diary ends when Dougal and Adalrick find her at the Kawatche camp. The last thing she writes is, 'Adalrick ended it. I've hidden the gifts under the stars beneath the earth with my love. He will never get them. But I will always have a part of him."

Lex realized he was holding his breath, "What...what does that mean?"

"I have no idea!" She smiled, starting to close the notebook.

"Wait what happens to Catriona?" Lex put a hand on her notebook stopping her from putting it away.

"Well, I'm glad it's interesting enough that you want to know more. It's the whole reason I chose to start with this story for my book." She opened the notebook again with a look of pride. "Catriona's diary ends there. Or the rest of it was lost to time. But Dougal and Catriona don't stay in America. They return to Scotland with Adalrick. There are no records for Catriona MacCann entering Scotland, but there are for Catriona Luthor." She cleared her through and read a note from the notebook, "One pregnant female: Catriona Luthor!"

"So she did end up getting married to Adalrik Luthor?" Lex leaned back, taking a sip of his abandoned coffee.

"I don't think it was by choice. And _I_ don't think that child was his. I mean we will never know for sure! But that makes for an interesting story. Her cryptic last entry is a whole other mystery. Around the 1960's one Lachlan Luthor came to Smallville asking a lot of questions about the Kawatche tribe. I'm guessing he either heard stories from his family or found Catriona's diary." She shrugged "I wonder if he found anything. After all these years being able to put an ending her her story would be amazing." Lachlan Luthor...his grandfather. His father never mentioned anything about this or had even shown any interests in trying to find whatever Lachlan Luthor was looking for.

"So you think Catriona was forced to marry Adalrik Luthor?" Lex asked, absentmindedly playing with the handle of his coffee cup.

"I think marrying off an already pregnant daughter to a respectable farmer who doesn't know any differently is better than having your family's reputation ruined." She shrugged. "History is a lot of fun and most people would look at this town and think 'there's nothing much here.' But really there are tons of amazing stories to be told if you look hard enough. That's the point of this book." She patted the notebook in front of her.

The girl was clearly not interested in him, his father, or his company. If she was she wouldn't tell a complete stranger about everything she knows. She seemed more relaxed now, and as she sat back, he took note of the small smattering of freckles on her cheeks. "How long are you planning on staying in Smallvi…"

"Hey, Lex I'm glad I found you! Have you..."

...

"Hey, Lex I'm glad I found you! Have you..." A tall young man in a red jacket rushed up to the table, his bright blue eyes looking between Lex and Éile. "Oh...I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt anything." He couldn't have been too much younger than herself. But had a boyish baby face, 'Poster child for healthy farm living…' she thought.

"You didn't!" Lex smiled and motioned at Éile, "Clark this is Éile. Éile this is Clark Kent. Éile is writing a book on Smallville."

"It's nice to meet you, Clark." Éile smiled and stood to shake his hand. A seriously strong handshake, "Wow you have a grip! It must be all the fresh are out here." She laughed and rubbed her hand. "What do they feed you out here in Kansas?"

He laughed awkwardly and shoved his hands into his pockets, "You're writing a book on Smallville? Well, you're talking to the right person!" Clark motioned to Lex, "The Luthors own most of the land out here."

"The Luthor's?" Éile looked from Clark to Lex, confused.

"Yeah! Lex's father owns the plant…" Clark started, but Éile didn't hear the rest. Lex Luthor. Alexander Luthor. How could she have not put it together? She had read about Alexander Luthor in the paper before. And in her research, he had come up in passing.

"Ah, Lex _Luthor_ …" Éile nodded. She felt her face heat up as she became painfully aware of what a creep she must have looked like. No wonder he acted so strange earlier "Well.." She started collecting her notebooks, "I think I should head home. Got a lot of work to do! Thank you for showing me to the Talon Mr. Luthor. And wonderful meeting you Clark!"

'Oh, you stupid stupid stupid girl!' She thought to herself as she left the Talon, barely making a note of what direction she was heading. "You just spent the last god knows how long explaining to a man about his own family!" Éile muttered under her breath.

...

"Did I say something wrong?" Clark watched the young women rush out of the Talon.

Lex stood up,"No, I'm afraid I wasn't entirely upfront with her about who my family was." He laughed. Looking back at the table he noticed her notebook was left forgotten. "I may have caught her off guard." Lex picked up the notebook, "Anyways what can I help you with Clark?" He would have to return this notebook back to Éile before she thought it was lost. 'But not before doing a little research of my own.' He thought, standing and following Clark out of the Talon.

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 **A/N: Thank you again for reading! Please leave a review to let me know how you like the story!**


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